Speaking & Universities
Prepare Students for More Than an Application.
Prepare Them for the Profession.
Students spend years preparing academically for graduate school.
But there is another part of graduate school preparation that deserves just as much attention:
Who are they becoming along the way?
GET Into Grad School partners with colleges and universities to provide professional development programming for aspiring physical therapists and future healthcare professionals.
Become Before You Achieve
A Professional Development Experience for Future Healthcare Professionals
The centerpiece of my university programming is Become Before You Achieve, built around a simple idea:
"Before we ask students what they want to achieve, we should ask who they're becoming."
Students are encouraged to look beyond GPA, prerequisites, observation hours, and acceptance letters and consider the person behind the application.
We explore professional development through:
Character , Communication , Competence , Contribution , Consistency
Rather than teaching students what to say,
we discuss how to become better communicators.
Rather than teaching them how to appear confident,
we explore how confidence develops through preparation and self-awareness.
Rather than encouraging students to hide failure,
we discuss accountability, reflection, resilience, and growth.
And rather than focusing solely on: "How do I get accepted?"
"What kind of clinician am I becoming?"
A Question Students Won't Forget.
During Become Before You Achieve, I ask students:
"Would you trust yourself with someone you love?"
Not your GPA.
Not your resume.
Not your application.
You.
Because eventually these students won't be applicants anymore.
They'll be healthcare professionals.
Graduate school preparation should honor the responsibility that comes with that future.
What Students Explore
- Professional identity
- Self-awareness
- Communication
- Confidence without arrogance
- Failure and adversity
- Interview preparation
- Application readiness
- Lifelong learning
More Than a Lecture.
I don't want students sitting quietly while I speak at them for an hour.
I want them thinking, talking, reflecting, practicing and occasionally becoming a little uncomfortable.
Programming can incorporate guided reflection, mock admissions committee exercises, interview practice, small-group discussion, and personal action planning.
Why I Teach This
I'm Geena Terino, PT, DPT, founder of GET Into Grad School.
I've been the student working toward an opportunity.
I've been the clinician caring for patients.
And I've been the healthcare leader interviewing, hiring, mentoring, and developing professionals.
Those experiences have reinforced something I believe deeply:
"Technical ability matters. But it isn't enough."
Healthcare also requires communication, judgment, humility, adaptability, accountability, confidence, compassion, and an ongoing willingness to learn.
Those qualities aren't developed the night before an interview.
They're developed intentionally, over time.
That's the conversation I want to have with your students.
What I Am & What I'm Not
I am not a graduate admissions officer and have not served on an admissions committee.
I don't represent my programming as insider access to admissions, and I don't promise students acceptance.
My expertise comes from developing healthcare professionals.
My goal is to complement the work already being done by faculty and pre-health advisors, not replace it.
You understand your institution and your students. I bring an additional perspective from clinical practice, healthcare leadership, hiring, and professional development.
Together, we can prepare students for the application process and the profession waiting on the other side of it.
Programming Designed Around Your Students
Programming can be adapted for:
Formats can range from keynote-style presentations to interactive workshops and targeted professional-development sessions.
What I Want Students to Leave With
Not perfect interview answers.
Not a formula for getting accepted.
And not the belief that one presentation can guarantee their future.
I want them asking better questions:
- What makes me different?
- What have my failures taught me?
- What do I contribute?
- Where do I still need to grow?
- Am I prepared for the responsibility of the career I'm pursuing?
And ultimately:
"Would I trust myself with someone I love?"
If that question stays with them after I leave campus, we've accomplished something meaningful.
Let's Build Something Valuable for Your Students.
If you're a faculty member, pre-health advisor, program director, department chair, or student organization leader interested in bringing GET Into Grad School to your campus, I'd love to learn about your students and your goals.
Inquire About University ProgrammingKeynotes , Interactive Workshops , Professional Development , Interview Preparation
"Become Before You Achieve."